There are people who don't believe the extreme, sadistic abuse reported by survivors could occur in an RTC.
They think:
"Some state agency has to oversee programs for teens. I thought a place had to be licensed to work with kids. right?"Ya think? No state or Federal agency claims full responsibility for overseeing private RTC's. Programs call themselves "academies" and "schools" to avoid potential run-ins with the Dep't. of Mental Health and license issues.
"The parents would know if their kids were being abused from phone conversations or letters" Some parents
do know about the abuse and want the debasing and torture kicked up a notch, or wish they could join in. Most are clueless because there is no unmonitored communication with their kids and the program's "professional" team tell them the kid is playing the parents as suckers, they're weak if they cave to his narcissistic manipulation and withdraw him, and premature withdrawal limits your child's future to two possibilities: death or jail, either result reached in some horrible, sick way with the selfish intent of bringing shame upon the family's good name in the community. No one wants to be the parents of a Columbine Kid.
"No one could even treat a dog like these kids say they were treated"That's true. Dogs are free from coercive treatment/physical abuse at CALO and any kid would gladly take a dog's place.
If the dogs try to relieve themselves indoors, they should be led outside right away and not yelled at, spanked or hit.